Dragonwar Legacy
by Anthony Peers
Summary: When the young twinsouled foundling Ryan discovers that his totem creature is a dragon, feared and reviled as fallen protectors who turned on humanity, he is plunged into a struggle to survive, and to discover the secrets of the terible Dragonwar.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This is not exactly a Breath of Fire story; it's a homage to the Breath of Fire series. Ryan is not any Ryu you're familiar with, Katherine is not Katt from BoF2, and so on. A few years ago I had an idea for a story about a guy with dragon powers, and the more I thought about it the more I realized it felt a lot like a Breath of Fire game, so now that I'm finally getting around to writing it, I'm intentionally drawing on some of the thematic elements of the series.

I hope you enjoy it! Comments and feedback are welcome. Constructive criticism is welcome. Pointless flaming is not.

* * *

Ryan was not a human, or at least he hoped he wasn't. The shamans said he was as twinsouled as any in the village, that his appearance was simply a fluke. Some children's totems didn't manifest at birth, waiting until some point during childhood, or sometimes even leaving them looking like a mundne human as late as a year or two after the onset of puberty. But even in those rare cases, children knew they would end up looking much as their parents did. But Ryan was an orphan, abandoned as an infant in the dead of night at the small village of Saroa. He was almost a full-grown man now, and he still had no fur, no tail, no scales or wings or horns, and no idea which of those he would end up growing! Or when it would finally happen, for that matter. Being an orphan was bad enough, but being some kind of late-blooming freak did nothing for his social standing. But the shamans assured him and the rest of the village that he was twinsouled, so he waited.

Looking like a human had some advantages, to be sure. Fur could be awfully inconvenient. Hard to keep clean and it had a nasty tendency to catch fire. Noren, the village smith, was ox-totem, and kept his fur very short, almost shaved clean, especially on his front side. It made him look very strange, but no one in the village was foolish enough to tease an ox-totem about his physical appearance. Especially not Noren, who being a smith, was large even for an ox!

Ryan was glad he only had his slightly unkempt shock of blue hair to worry about maintaining. He sometimes hoped, when his soul manifsted, that it would be a lizard-totem. Lizardmen weren't held in particularly high regard, but at least they didn't have to worry about fur. They got hard, protective scales all over, and a tail to help balance. They made superb warriors, though what good was a warrior in this time of peace? The Shell Oath had brought a truce to the terrible Dragonwar when Ryan was still a toddler, and since then the land had lived in peace.

He wondered at times if his parents had fought in the Dragonwar, battling the terrible Dragon Clan, the former protectors who had betrayed the land, driving humanity to the brink of extinction and leaving many villages and cities, human and twinsouled alike, as desolate ruins. That was the story he chose to believe, that his parents were brave warriors who had never returned because they died in battle against the rampaging dragons.

But today he had more important things to concern himself with than fantasies about his heritage. Today was the day of his future, not a time to focus on some past which maybe never even was. Today was the day that Karl the ranger, his Master, would begin to teach him to wield a sword.

Like his apprentice, Karl was something of an oddity in the village. A tall, lean wolf-totem well into his middle years, the ranger was a veteran of the Dragonwar who held to the old ways. When all around believed that the Shell Oath had brought peace, Karl remained vigilant and kept himself ready for the next war, remembering and frequently reminding any who would listen of how suddenly the Dragonwar had begun. Not many listened, of course-who had time to prepare for a war that never came when there were crops to plant, goods to trade, mates to court, and all the other activities of normal, peaceful life? But Ryan had sought him out, and the aging wolf hadn't turned him away or seen, as too many saw, the countenance of a feared Solitary in his too-human face.

The youth rolled out of bed, quickly changing out of his nightclothes into a light tunic and trousers. He walked outside, dunking his head in the rain-barrel and scrubbing his face in the reflection, then washing his hands as well. Mother insisted on cleanliness before breakfast, and he didn't want to be late to his meeting with Karl.

He got back inside just as his adoptive parents were finishing preparing breakfast. Mother and Father were rabbit-totem, but contrary to the stereotype they had no children of their own and they had taken the young foundling in and raised him with love. He helped Father set plates, forks and knives around the table as Mother set out the food, then they sat down together and ate. Ryan barely even noticed what the food was, he just finished it quickly, then gave Mother a hug before rushing out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

"Kya!" Ryan swung his wooden practice sword, seeking for a hole in Katherine's defenses. The tiger-totem girl was about his age, a bit shorter than him but faster and much more agile. She had elected to train with the staff instead of the sword, and she was learning quickly, becoming quite good at blocking his strikes and at least somewhat proficient at returning the blows. They were both still learning, but the blue-haired youth tended to find himself receiving more bruises than his feline partner when they sparred. And of course his showed more readily, to his great embarrassment, as he lacked her concealing coat of thick, red-orange fur.

Wood clacked against wood loudly as Katherine caught his blow. She took half a step back, then moved quickly sideways and swung, trying to get around his guard. He stumbled backwards trying to evade, but raised his sword a bit too quickly. She lowered her hand at the last moment and smacked him on the thigh with her staff. He jumped back, biting his lip to avoid crying out in pain, and just barely dodged a follow-up swing towards his shoulder.

Angered by the pain in his leg, he struck back, slicing his sword at her most vulnerable point: her hand, wrapped around the long wooden shaft. Wood struck fingers with a satisfying _crack_, followed immediately by a hiss and a pained snarl. It was rather poor sportsmanship, to strike at her hand like that, but against a faster opponent he needed every advantage he could manufacture. He pressed his advantage, lowering his sword slightly and thrusting forward instead of slashing. She tried to swing downward to block it, but that only succeeded in diverting the tip of his sword from her sternum to her belly. He got in a good, solid hit, staggering her back a step and leaving her winded for a moment.

The youth pressed his advantage, raising his blade and feinting a high slash towards the side of Katherine's head. She moved quickly, bringing up her staff to block, but the blow was simply a distraction. He lashed out with his foot, catching her right ankle from the outside and pushing it leftwards, across her body. The feline totems may be renowned for their superior balance, but there's only so much of an advantage that such a gift can confer to a biped. When his sword met her staff, she stumbled backwards, dropping instinctively to a three-point crouch to try to regain her balance, right foot forward, her left stretched far back, and her right hand on the ground. It would only take a moment, but that was all the time that Ryan needed. Katherine's right hand was off her staff.

He stepped forward quickly and cracked his sword hard against her right arm just below the shoulder, then slapped the side of her head with the flat of his blade. He wasn't going to use the edge against her head; even with a wooden sword, that could truly hurt her. As cruel as she could be to him at times, he refused to sink to her level. But that didn't mean he didn't intend to win. The blow dazed her for a moment, long enough for him to get in another kick, this time to her stomach. She collapsed on the ground, gasping and panting, and Ryan stood over her, holding the tip of his sword against the back of her neck. "Yield?"

He expected an affirmative response, of course, but instead there came a hiss and a growl from the tigress. She ducked her head and turned to look up at him, bringing her staff up in a backhanded swing that impacted directly between his legs. He collapsed to the ground with a boyish yelp of pain, but in his own mind he heard a fierce _**roar**_ of rage. Katherine stood over him, hips wiggling and tail swishing as she surveyed her "kill" victoriously.

**STAND**

It was like a voice, almost a physical, audible sound, in the space between one beat of Ryan's heart and the next. But more than a voice, it was a thought, an idea, a _need_. He groaned softly and gritted his teeth, steeling himself against the pain, and placed the tip of his sword in the ground, then quickly pushed downward, using the weapon to bring himself to a crouch.

Katherine noticed and stepped back, bringing her staff up and dropping into a combat stance. "Want morrre, little Solitarrry?" she taunted.

Ryan straightened up and got into his own stance, raising his sword defensively. But then Karl was there, between them. "That's enough," the wolf-totem growled. "Stand down, both of you." Ryan lowered his sword gratefully; Katherine hissed and planted the butt of her staff hard against the ground. "Katherine, a move like that could save your life in a real fight, but this was _not_ a real fight."

The tigress spat on the ground at Ryan's feet. "He asked me to yield," she snarled. "I will neverrr yield to a Solitarrry!"

"I'm not-" Ryan began, but Karl gave him a stern look and he shut his mouth.

"Do you doubt the word of the shamans?" he growled, his fur rising slightly in the manner of an irritated lupine. Katherine backed off, shaking her head sullenly. "Good. As for you," he turned to Ryan, "that took a lot of guts, standing up like that, but what were you going to do next? Sometimes you need to know when to quit, boy."

Ryan hobbled away from the practice ring and sat down hard in the grass at the edge. "And what good will _that_ do me in a real fight?" he asked.

The ranger chuckled softly. "Might get you taken prisoner instead of getting killed. And a prisoner can escape. Or you could just end up left for dead instead of someone making sure to finish the job. It could do any number of good things for you, really..."

Ryan nodded. "But I felt like I had to. I felt someth-"

The ranger clamped his hand down on Ryan's forearm and gave him a severe look. "Not here," he murmured in a voice that was urgent in tone, but so quiet as to barely reach his apprentice's ears. "Not now. Tell no one. We can discuss it tomorrow." The wolf fixed him with an intense, penetrating gaze. "No one, understood?"

Ryan nodded, but he felt confused. He wondered what had upset Karl so. The... thing... the voice, if it was a voice, felt like a part of him, as if he had truly touched his totem for the first time. If so, it was a joyous, sacred occasion. Why was his Master acting as if it was something shameful, or worse, something actually dangerous?

"I think you've both had enough sparring for one afternoon," the wolf said. "You're dismissed until tomorrow. You should both probably lay down for a while."


	3. Chapter 3

Ryan was still feeling a lot better by the time he met up with Karl and Katherine the next day. He was still a little bit sore, of course, but not limping anymore at least. Still, the way the tiger-totem kept glancing at him with the expression of an angry predator really didn't help much. He stayed a good few feet away from her, well out of range of her staff, as they walked towards the gates of the town.

Karl decided that, as the Rangers' duty was to guard and defend civilization, and the task of protecting towns and cities had been taken over by the Keepers during the Dragonwar, that they should train outside the town today. As they passed by the Keeper sentinel at the gate, the tall, armored angel give Ryan an odd look. He seemed almost as if he was going to stop them, then shook his head and said nothing. Katherine was oblivious to the whole exchange, but Ryan noticed his master looking very tense until they were outside. He wondered what that was all about, but when he turned to Karl, the old veteran simply gave the youth a significant look and shook his head.

When they were away from the town, Karl told them that the first thing that a Ranger needed to know about traveling in the wilds was how to obtain food. He sent Katherine and Ryan off in two different directions, the tigress into a forest and Ryan down towards the river. The blue-haired youth had always enjoyed fishing, and at Karl's instruction he had brought his pole along, disassembled in his pack. Katherine, on the other hand, was told to hone her hunting instincts, and bring back whatever small kills she could bring down in three hours. Karl said he had other important matters to attend to, and he'd meet up with the two of them in three hours to see who had caught the most food.

As Ryan approached the riverbank, he felt as if there was someone following him. He crouched low and turned, glancing behind him, and saw that it was his master. The wolf-totem was headed straight towards him with long, purposeful strides. "Good instincts," he growled in a quiet tone. "I didn't think you'd hear me until I was about twice as close as I am."

Ryan gave him an odd look. "What are you doing, Master? I thought you had important business."

"I do, son," the wolf replied. Ryan blinked a little at the term; he'd never heard Karl address him in such a familiar manner. "It's with you. Remember what happened yesterday?"

Ryan nodded slowly. "When I stood up, you mean?"

"Exactly. And you saw what happened at the gate? With the Keeper?"

"Yes," Ryan responded, feeling a bit uneasy. "Why? Are they connected? Do you know something?"

Karl shook his head. "I wouldn't use the word 'know', but I strongly suspect something. Hard to be sure just yet. Follow me." He started off parallel to the riverbank, heading upstream at a pretty good pace. Ryan had to jog to keep up.

"Where are we going?" he asked after a few minutes. He was in decent shape, and the jogging didn't wear him out, but it would if they kept it up for too long. Especially if they followed the river much longer and ended up in the nearby hills.

"Tell me what you know of the Keepers," Karl said, brushing aside Ryan's question.

"The angels?" Ryan asked. "Well... just what Father Paul told all of us. When the Dragon Clan broke their pact to protect the people on Earth Beneath, the angels from Heaven Above who defend against the demons of the Voidhell Beyond sent some of their warriors to fight off the dragons, defending Earth Beneath as the Dragon Clan would not.

Karl nodded. "Yes, that's the Keepers' story, and of course the church will believe what their angels from Heaven Above tell them."

Ryan looked at him curiously. "You sound as if you don't believe it, Master." He stumbled a little, then recaught his balance. "Can we slow down a little? It's hard to run and ponder at the same time."

Karl glanced back over his shoulder, then nodded and slowed to a brisk walk, his apprentice gratefully doing the same. "It's not quite that I don't believe it. Not exactly. I just don't believe that the story's quite that simple."

"Why not? The angels took compassion on us because they love the people of Earth Beneath. They are sworn to defend us just as the dragons were. It's perfectly logical for them to do what they did."

The wolf-totem chuckled softly. "Did that Keeper look like he was looking at you with love this morning?"

Ryan shook his head. He had to admit that the angel hadn't. "What do the Keepers have to do with me?"

"I'm still not sure, son."

"No, but you suspect something. What is it?" The blue-haired youth's tone betrayed a hint of impatience.

Karl shook his head. "I'd really rather not say until I'm certain. Have patience; we're almost there."

"Almost where?" All Ryan could see ahead were hills.

"Come with me." Karl glanced up at the sky, then started to run again, faster than before. Ryan kept up wtih some difficulty as Karl led him around one of the hills and partway up the side. The hill was lightly wooded, with lone trees standing a few tens of paces apart. When they reached a spot that looked much like any other, the ranger stopped, looked up at the sky again, glancing at the sun, then frowned. He looked around, using his thumb and finger to roughly take his bearings. It looked like he was finding his way to the center of a triangle bounded by three nearby trees, or something along those lines. When he reached the spot he was looking for, he stopped and felt around in his pack for something. After a moment he pulled out a shovel and began to dig, muttering to himself.

After a few minutes of digging, the shovel struck something with an odd metallic sound. "Here. Help me uncover this, quickly." He removed a few large shovelfuls of dirt, then set the shovel aside and the two of them crouched down together to clear the loose soil away. Whatever was there seemed to be a slightly concave plate of some unfamiliar metal, a dark golden-brown in color and as smooth as the finest glass. As they uncovered it, Ryan found it was circular, perhaps eight feet in diameter, curving downwards so the center was maybe half a foot deeper than the rim.

When they had it cleared off, Karl stood up and took several steps back. "All right. Stand clear, and don't let your shadow fall upon the plate."

As Ryan stepped back, he noticed that the top of one of the nearby trees was casting a shadow onto the metal disc. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the shadow retreated slowly, and after several minutes, the whole plate was illuminated by the sun's light. As Ryan watched, it seemed to absorb the light, its color gradually changing from a dull brown to a bright yellow over the course of several minutes. Then it suddenly began to shine with an eerie violet glow.

"Give me your hand," the wolf-totem muttered. Ryan watched, a little bit nervous, but held out his hand obediently, still staring at the metal _thing_. Suddenly a bright flash of pain shot through his palm; his Master had expressed one of his claws and dug it sharply into the youth's skin. As Ryan looked down, shocked, Karl ran his claw quickly along the wound, collecting a single drop of blood, then flung it with a flick of his wrist onto the shining metal disc.

The metal _hissed_ for a moment, then abruptly vanished. It was there, and then it was not, and in its place was a tall archway made of the same odd metal. The purple glow suffused the archway and made it difficult to see through it. It was simply standing there in the middle of a hillside, but it made Ryan's very blood tingle, and he had the distinct impression that if he were to step between the sides of the arch, he would find himself somewhere other than where he would arrive at by walking around it.

Karl's tail lashed back and forth with excitement. "It's as I thought!"

"What in the name of Voidhell Beyond is this, Master?" Ryan asked, concerned. "No one ever said you could work magic!"

"I didn't; you did! You only have a few minutes. Step through and lay hold on your totem, and your destiny."

"What?" Ryan's eyes went wide. "You want me to pass through a door of magic, with no idea what's on... what _is_ on the other side? What do you know?"

"I know that it's _your_ door. That's why it opened for your blood. Quickly, before the sun moves much further, if you want to ever know who you are!"

Ryan gritted his teeth as trepidation welled up within him. His mind had been turning a few things over, and it was slowly arriving at a conclusion he did not like in the least. "My totem's... across there?"

Karl nodded. "Quickly!"

Ryan clenched his teeth tightly and stepped forward, feeling the violet glow wash over him. It was just as he feared; he suddenly found himself elsewhere. He was on a mountainside, the archway standing a dozen paces from a stone pagoda. It looked like some sort of shrine.

He looked around, but couldn't see another living soul. Just himself. He stepped forward slowly, walking into the shrine. Within there was a small altar, set before a statue.

**LORD**

Ryan turned quickly back out the door as the voice between heartbeats spoke again. His stomach lurched, and he bent over and violently emptied his half-digested breakfast onto the ground outside the shrine.

The statue was a carving of a mighty stone dragon.


	4. Chapter 4

_Dragon-totem_. Destroyer. Ravager. Despoiler. Abomination.

_Demon._

How could he possibly be dragon-totem? That meant his parents had to be dragon-totem as well, or one of them at least. Perhaps he was the product of violence? An innocent woman, taken by force as draconic invaders despoiled her home? No wonder she had abandoned him soon after birth. If only she had shed him instead. It was a horrific act, but rumors persisted that unnamed, less scrupulous shamans would rid a woman of the child in her womb for a price, the dark nature of which was only ever guessed at.

For several long moments, Ryan gave serious thought to rectifying his mother's imagined omission. He was on a mountainside, and there was a steep cliff nearby. One good jump and the world would be that much safer. His legs tensed as he prepared to take a running start.

**LIVE**

His muscles relaxed and Ryan found himself gasping, panting for breath. Had he truly been on the verge of taking his own life? How could he even consider such a thing? Certainly that was a far worse sin than the accidental stain of a sinister parentage, was it not? How had his mind been so clouded?

_How had it cleared so rapidly?_ he suddenly thought. He went over his memory of the last few moments, focusing on everything he had felt, and his blood ran cold. "Live," the voice of his totem had spoken-commanded, even-and all desire not to had vanished instantly. And he had not even truly noticed, this time!

He began to tremble as he felt, firsthand and for the first time, the true fear of the Dragon Clan's power. Unlike the beasts and the birds and the fish of the sea, unlike every other totem creature known, the Dragon was sentient. His totem possessed not only a nature, but also a will, and the cunning to bring it about. And its will was stronger than his own. Try as he might, he could not muster even the slightest bit of enthusiasm for the idea of throwing himself off the cliff anymore. Was he to be a slave to the dragon within, with no agency of his own?

**NO**

_Angels, totems and demons! Did it answer me?_ He blinked and shook his head violently. What could he do now? And, more vexing still, what had Karl known about this? How could the ranger have possibly known that his apprentice was dragon-totem? And how could he _approve_ of it, and even actively contrive to keep him safe from the Keepers?

And yet, Karl had never set him on a wrong path before. If he could have no faith in himself or his totem, Ryan would at least place his faith in his Master, and his Master wanted him to cross beyond the archway and explore what he found. And the only thing of consequence here was the shrine.

His heart filled with trepidation, the youth slowly turned back to the stone edifice and stepped inside. As his eyes gradually acclimated themselves to the dim light within, he noticed that the altar was carved in strange runes, scrolling and interweaving in mystical patterns. This was truly a place of high magic, and the closer he stepped to it and the statue beyond, the more he felt his blood tingling.

**BOW**

A sense of reverence overcame him, and he got to his knees before the altar, then prostrated himself completely. His fingertips brushed the stone altar, and then he felt a _presence_ brush against his mind.

_**It has been long since a new whelp presented itself before me! Who comes before Dolan?**_

Dolan! Ryan's breath caught in his throat. God of Dragons! Patron of abominations! And it was _touching_ him. Touching his mind, his soul! The youth shuddered.

_**Fear? Revulsion? What is this? Why?**_ Suddenly the presence of the dragon-god became much more... _more_. His mind was not merely being touched, it was being _entered_, walked around in and explored like an unfamiliar house. He squirmed and tried to pull his hand away from the altar, but it refused to move. He was forced to endure the long moments of having an alien abomination crawl through his memories.

Finally, after he knew not how long, it was finished, and the powerful mind withdrew back to the edges of his consciousness. He felt a great sense of sadness from the Dragon-god. _**I see. This is unfortunate. Know, child of my brood, that there is much that you do not know, and much that you do know is untrue. Beware those who style themselves 'angels'. They are not as they seem.**_

Exactly what a demon lord would say, of course.

_**If your world has become as you say, it will not be safe for you, child of my brood. The power of the dragon lies within you. Call upon it in times of need, but use it wisely.**_

And there it was, jointly with the lie, the temptation. Here, don't let the angels kill you. Take this power. Maybe start another war while you're at it. What kind of god needed to dig through someone's mind to bring himself up to date on current events anyway?

_**Go now, child of my brood. Observe, and learn. There is much you know that is true, and much you know that is not. Live, that you may learn for yourself.**_

And then the Dragon God was gone, and his fingers fell away from the stone altar. As his head slowly cleared, he felt something different within his bosom. He could clearly feel the presence of his totem now, small and warm like a candle, but filled with latent power, a candle that could roar into a bonfire if he stoked it just a little. He did not know how he knew, but the awareness came with the knowledge that all he would need to do is ask, and the power of the Dragon would fill him.

He slowly got to his feet and turned towards the archway. The nightmare wasn't finished yet, afterall. He still had to confront Karl.


	5. Chapter 5

"There you are," Karl greeted Ryan as the youth returned from the archway. The tingling in Ryan's blood abruptly ceased, and the odd violet hue that the glowing archway had been casting on the ground around it was no longer visible. He had the impression that if he turned around, the arch would no longer be there at all, but whatever had happened, the metal plate had not returned. Right now he had more important things to do than look behind him, though.

He took a few steps forward, then balled his right hand into a fist and swung hard, catching his Master on the jaw. Strength he had not formerly known surged through his arm, and the blow knocked Karl to the ground. "You knew!" he accused, his voice dripping with bitterness.

The wolf-totem rolled over and got to all fours, back arched, growling angrily and baring his teeth at Ryan. The young dragon's rage quickly turned to fear, and he regretted his impulsiveness for what was sure to be the last few moments of his short life. He watched helplessly as the veteran's body tensed up...

...and then relaxed again. Karl got up, but only partway, rising to his knees and looking up at Ryan from a strangely supplicative pose. "Forgive me," he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"...what are you doing?" Ryan asked, looking down at him strangely. What in the name of Heaven Above was his Master doing bowing before him like this?

"Displaying proper respect," he replied, "in the presence of a dragon-totem who I have wronged. By ancient right, my life is in your hands, and I can only ask your forgiveness."

_What?_ "Respect? Ancient right?" Ryan looked down at him as if he'd gone mad. "Get up, stand up. What are you? Some sort of heretic? A dragon worshiper?"

Karl shook his head as he got to his feet. "Just a man who understands that things happen for reasons. The Keepers may claim that they turned back the Dragon Clan at Tremlen, but I was there too. The dracs had us completely overrun. The Keepers put up a good fight, to be sure, but we were losing. And then the battle just changed. The myrmidons started pulling back, just turning around and heading back toward Dragonhome. But it wasn't a rout by any means. They just decided to leave and turned back, orderly as can be. We thought it was a rout at first, of course. Lost a bunch of good men trying to act as if it were. And at the end, when Kaiser Wyresh swore on the shell of his totem that nor he nor his soldiers would enter human lands again, that was no concession. He just didn't need to anymore."

"So what does that mean?" Ryan asked, perplexed. "And what does it have to do with me?"

Karl sighed a little. "I wish I knew. It means _something._ It means whatever it was, they had a reason for turning back. Something happened at Tremlen, and the war was just _over_ for them, so they left. And if they had a reason for ending it, that means they had a reason for starting it too. As much as some these days may try to paint the scene this way, the Kaiser didn't just wake up one morning with a kink in his tail and decide to see how much slaughter and misery he could inflict on some sort of whim."

"Again," Ryan said, his patience eroding rapidly, "what do your war stories have to do with _me?_"

The wolf-totem growled slightly. "Think! After the war, the angels took over as protectors of the land, since the dragons had violated that trust. Used to be, the dragons and the Rangers kept everyone safe, and not separately, either. There were a good number of Dragon Clan in the Ranger Corps. We were as surprised as anyone else when they turned on us. But things have been a lot more uneven since the war. The Keepers guard the cities, but they leave the wilds to us. And they guard the cities damned well too. No one gets in or out of any settlement, from Tremlen itself to the smallest village, without their notice anymore. Why is that?"

Ryan bit his lip. He didn't like this answer any more than any of the others this morning. "Because they're watching for someone, and don't know where they would find him?" He hesitated, then continued. "...until today?"

Karl gave his apprentice a somber nod. "The dragons, the Keepers, the war, Tremlen, and you. You're all pieces of the same puzzle, I think."

"What is the puzzle?" Ryan insisted. "What did you know? For how long? And what do you know now?"

"For years now," the ranger admitted. "We suspected since the early days. It's hard for a shaman to verify that you're twinsouled without getting an actual glimpse of the second soul. They put a seal on it so the angels wouldn't notice until you were of age and ready to come here."

"Wait. We? They? Who? And how do you _suspect_ something if your shaman has proof?"

Karl shook his head. "Because there wasn't proof. That kind of viewing can be mistaken, and *is* mistaken often enough. My mother was fox-totem, my father was a wolf like me. The shamans thought I'd take after her. It's even harder when the parents' identities are completely unknown. The only real proof is when the totem manifests. But he thought what he saw was a dragon soul."

Ryan nodded slowly. "And who is _We_?"

Karl sighed. "Half the village. Those of us old enough to remember the times before the Dragonwar. Things were better then."

"So you conspired to keep the knowledge of my lineage from everyone who isn't in on the secret... including me? Including everyone I knew? You know that Katherine wouldn't have done what she did yesterday if she'd truly believed I had a totem." He winced a little at the memory and rubbed at his thigh absently.

Karl scoffed. "I know nothing of the sort. She'd have just found a different excuse for it, and you know that as well as I do. Now what was your first instinct, when you were on the other side of that arch, when you really understood what you were?"

Ryan looked away, embarrassed, but after Karl let the question just hang there for almost a minute, he mumbled, "I wanted to throw myself off a cliff."

"Keep the world safe? Rid it of a monster? How do you think Katherine would have reacted? Or any of the other children?"

The dragon-totem nodded sullenly, conceding the point.

Karl continued. "Well, is that what you want? To keep the world safe? Defend those you love?"

Ryan nodded slowly. "Wouldn't anyone?"

"Any _dragon_ would. But there are plenty of people more concerned with mundane details of life. But if you feel the calling, we should get going."

"What? You mean, just like that? I'm an itinerant ranger, seeking out people to protect and wrongs to right?"

Karl shook his head and reached down to pick up his pack, slowly slipping his arms through the straps. "No. I mean that the Keepers noticed something when even the slightest bit of your totem's power manifested. What's happened here just now will be like a beacon. We have to get back to Saroa. No one there is safe now." He turned. "Take your sword and come on, we have to hurry."

Ryan blinked a little at the absurdity of trying to fight a real fight with a wooden practice sword. Then he saw where the ranger was looking. Behind him. He turned and glanced down, and just a foot or two behind him, where the archway had been, was a sword made of the same strange metal. The long blade was straight, and sharp along both edges, but it was the hilt and crosspiece that caught his attention. They depicted the head, neck and outstretched wings of a dragon, and the head was that of the statue of Dolan.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryan groaned as he tried to run with the long, heavy sword in his hands. It wasn't easy, especially as the magical metal apparently hadn't seen fit to provide any sort of sheath, for him to store it safely. He wished there was one; it would make things a lot easier on him!

Suddenly there was a metal scabbard encasing the sword. It immediately slid off the blade and fell to the ground. Karl heard the thump and stopped, turning to see his apprentice staring at the scabbard.

"OK, what just happened?" the perplexed dragon asked.

Karl chuckled softly. "If I had to guess, I'd say you wished you had a sheath for your sword."

"So this thing grants wishes?" He placed both hands on the hilt, closed his eyes, and loudly intoned, "I wish I wasn't a dragon-totem!"

Karl growled. "This is no time to be clowning around. Fasten it on and let's go."

"No, really," Ryan said as he picked up the scabbard. "How does this thing work?" He wondered how he would fasten it. "I wish there was some obvious way to put this on," he ventured. A pair of loops appeared of thin, braided strands of the magical metal, making cables he could slip his arms through. He did so and sheathed his sword on his back, then started running towards home with his Master again.

"You're learning," Karl said.

"Learning what? What's _with_ this sword?" Ryan asked, frustrated.

The wolf-totem gave him a blank look. "It's a dragon blade," he said.

"...is that supposed to mean something?"

Karl scowled. "Your education has been sorely neglected. Everyone knows what a dragon blade is... or should, at least.

"A blade... for a dragon?" Ryan asked.

"It's..." Karl struggled for the words to describe the concept. "It's like how a wizard has a staff. A myrmidon has a dragon blade. If I held it, it would be just another sword. But in your hands, it draws strength and power from your totem, and it can be whatever you need it to be."

_Myrmidon._ That was a word Ryan knew. The foot soldiers of the Dragon Clan, the Kaiser's shock troops. Most Twinsouled looked somewhat like a cross between a human and their totem creature. The dragon-totems were the exception to that, looking fully human, but the myrmidons were the exception to the exception, hunting down the enemies of the Kaiser in a fearsome half-draconic form.

"I'm no myrmidon," Ryan protested. "Do I look like one to you?"

Karl shrugged. "Looks to me like you're carrying a dragon blade," he said, as if that settled the matter. "Now come on, we have to hurry." He broke into a steady lope that Ryan matched with some difficulty.

"What good will it do us in a fight if we're winded and worn out?" he asked.

"None at all," Karl replied. "But I've got another apprentice who's in danger, and she doesn't know it. "First thing to do is head her off."

"And what about the village?"

"They'll be safe, for the moment. The angels aren't going to harm anyone within until they can bring in backup, and the ritual to open the portal will take a couple hours."

"And once it opens?" Ryan asked, worried.

"We don't want that to happen. And neither does anyone living in Saroa. Celestial justice is swift and fierce, and there will be a battalion at least."

The palisade of the city came into view. Karl veered to the right, heading for the forest, and Ryan followed. It took a few minutes, but they reached the trail into the woods. Karl sniffed the air and began walking slowly, deliberately, seeking out Katherine. Perhaps five minutes later, they found her, carrying a small canvas bag, bulging in various places with what had to be her hunting kills for the morning.

"Therrre you arrre," the tiger-totem purred, looking pleased with herself. "I bet Rrryan didn't catch nearrrly this much fish!"

Karl scowled at her. "Forget the hunting. Get your staff. The town's under attack, and we need to help them."

Katherine blinked a little. "Underrr attack?" she asked. "If the Keeperrrs can't hold them off, what can we do?"

Karl shook his head. "No, the Keepers _are_ the threat. They think we've been sheltering a dragon-totem, and they intend to purge the entire village."

Katherine went wide-eyed, snatching up her staff from its resting place, leaning against a tree. "Why would they think that? And how would you know?"

Ryan turned to look the tigress in the eyes. "Because they have been. No one's gonna call me Solitary anymore; now you'll have an even worse epithet instead."

Katherine hissed. "You? A drrragon?" She held up her staff, falling into a combat stance.

"Stand down!" Karl growled, stepping between the two. "He's no subject of the Kaiser. He's a protector-dragon, like the old days. He's _Ryan_, for the Goddess's sake! You _know_ him!" He lowered his voice. "And right now he's your family's only chance of survival."

"Rrright now," Katherine retorted, "he's the rrreason why my family is in perrril."

"No," said Karl. "I am. And your mother, and both his parents. And the mayor, two of the shamans, and half the adults in the entire town. We knew what we were doing. He didn't. He was just born this way."

The tigress spat at Ryan's feet, hissing again in anger. "That does not make him rrright, to be a drrragon living among us." She looked into his eyes and snarled. "This is yourrr mess, drrragon. You will fight at the forrre."

Karl nodded grimly. "Actually, that was exactly the plan."


	7. Chapter 7

"Look!" Katherine pointed towards the village as the trio made their way homeward at a brisk walk.

Karl muttered something foul-sounding under his breath as his eyes followed the tigress's pointing finger. "We're too late!" A plume of thick, black smoke was beginning to rise from within Saroa, too large and too quickly to be any sort of ordinary, peaceful fire.

Anger welled up in Ryan, anger born of frustration at the immense futility of it all. All he had ever wanted was to live a decent life, do his part to keep the monsters down, court a pretty girl and settle down with her, and do his best to give whatever kids they had together a decent life like he had had. Not suddenly find out he's a dragon-totem, get his home burnt to the ground by avenging angels, and spend whatever days he may have left as a fugitive. Nothing decent about any of that! He had never asked for any of it!

**ASK**

Ryan shuddered as the weight of his Totem's will leaned against him, stumbling and slowing his pace to a quick walk to keep his balance. This time it was more of a suggestion than a command, but the suggestion was still a very forceful one, truly worthy of the word _temptation_. Simply reach within him, take hold of the power of the Dragon, and release the flames within, stronger and fiercer than the flames taking hold in his hometown. Fierce enough to make the entire world burn.

Unfortunately, his totem wasn't the only one with that idea. Having him call upon his totem's power had been Karl's plan all along; the only way they would stand a chance in a fight against Keepers. "Ryan, you need to do it," he insisted. "If the fight's already begun..."

"Then I add to the chaos? Unleash the power of destruction and ruin itself, upon my home?"

Karl growled fiercely. "You're _not_ a destroyer. You are a protector, a defender! You must not think of your power as the power of ruin. It's influenced by your perception and your will; if you see yourself as a destroyer, you will be one, whether or not you want to. But right now, your home needs a _protector_ dragon, and you're the only one we have!"

"But how-"

"Now!" Karl insisted, stopping in front of him and turning to give him an intense, angry look. "Your home is in flames, dragon. Defend it!"

**AID**

The totem pressed him, and Ryan's will to resist crumbled. He gave in, let the dragon have its way, surrendering to its power.

...and nothing happened. He looked down at his body and it was still just as it always had been, and he didn't feel anything different within him. Whatever it was, it hadn't worked. The will of the Dragon within was so strong, he felt as if it would overwhelm him, but it didn't.

**REACH**

The totem somehow _pulled_ at him, and he felt its yearning, its will and its desire to become one with him. It was not enough simply to allow the dragon in, he had to pull back. _Come, dragon, join with me._ He pulled with his will at the totem, encouraging it to join him, to become one with him, and still nothing happened.

"Quickly!" Karl urged. Ryan ignored him.

"Stupid drrragon, cannot even touch his own totem," Katherine taunted. He ignored her also. All that mattered was making the totem join with him. Frustration washed over him. Why couldn't he do it? What was missing?

**BE**

He understood suddenly. It was what Karl had said. The power of the dragon, much like the Dragon Blade, worked based on his perceptions. He stood straight and put one foot a bit behind the other, taking a combat stance as he reached back to draw his sword. "I am Ryan," he said out loud, "myrmidon and defender of Saroa, and I will protect my home! I am dragon-totem!"

Power surged through him. His skin grew thicker, tougher, then _cracked_, forming into a coat of scales. A pair of dragon-wings sprouted from his back, tearing through his shirt. The last joint of each finger hardened and shifted, turning into a large, blunt claw tapering to a wicked point. Strength and vitality filled his body, and the alien nature of the Dragon filled his mind.

_**Move quickly,**_ they thought, and so they did. To the dragon, thought was action. He spread his wings, pushed off with powerful legs, and flexed the wings as he lept upwards. Then he was airborne, hovering a few feet over the ground, wings and magic working in tandem. He willed himself to move towards home, and the wings flapped hard, and suddenly he was moving, moving quickly enough, in fact, that Karl and Katherine were having trouble keeping up.

He flew quickly, easily outdistancing his companions, his only concern the safety of his friends and loved ones. He came within sight of the gates, briefly noticing that there were no angel sentinels present now. _**No matter, they will be where the smoke is.**_

Behind him, Karl came close enough to notice where the smoke was rising from, and that it didn't seem to be spreading. "Goddess's breath!" he swore. "The fools... Ryan! Stop! Wait!" But the dragon was too far ahead, and too focused to hear him. "Come on!" he urged Katherine, redoubling his speed. "Quickly, before those idiots start the Second Dragonwar!"

Ryan didn't bother with the gates. He simply pushed hard with his wings, flying over them and onward towards the center of town, towards the source of the black plume of smoke. His blood burned with the eagerness to join in the battle. _**Strike down these angels, heretics who turn against their charge to protect us!**_ the myrmidon raged.

_How can an angel be a heretic?_ a small part of Ryan that was still uniquely _him_ wondered quietly.

He reached the scene of the fire, only dimly recognizing the burning building as the village's church. _Why is there only one building burning?_ Ryan wondered, but the myrmidon shouted him down.

_**Join the battle!**_ Then it recoiled in confusion, an almost palpable feeling of dizziness and disorientation washing over him. There was no battle; only a mob. A crowd of villagers holding weapons, small groups standing guard at every exit. Noren, the smith, holding a huge hammer in his muscular arms. His own father, carrying a rapier!

And two of the village's three shamans, including William, who had pronounced him twinsouled in truth, standing before the burning edifice and conjuring more and more flame to engulf the doomed church.

_Author's note: The Hero's Doomed Hometown is such a tired, overused trope that I decided to see what I could do to turn it inside out. Apparently the villagers figured out what was going on and fought back this time..._


	8. Chapter 8

Gerard swung his mace, seeking an opening in his partner's defenses. The armored figure before him raised a shield just in time, turning the blow and riposting, lunging against Gerard. A hard steel plate backed by the full weight of an eight-foot-tall armored warrior bowled him over, and he fell to the ground, barely twisting around in time to land on his side and not his back, avoiding a painful injury to his wings. "I yield, my Lady," he said, before his partner could press the advantage.

A mailed hand reached down to grasp his, helping him to his feet. "You're getting better," came a cool, feminine voice from behind a visored helmet. "But you left yourself wide open for that shield-bash. You need to be more careful not to overextend yourself on your swings like that."

"Captain Nicoletta!" A human messenger walked into the training room, hailing her. She turned her head to regard him. "Your presence is requested in the Summoning Circle."

The Keeper nodded, reaching up to remove her helmet, revealing the ageless but beautiful face of an angel. Golden-brown locks of hair spilled out around her neck, only falling a few inches of course; it had to be kept short lest it become a liability on the battlefield, even without the confining helmet. "I suppose they'll want me in uniform?" she asked, walking over to replace her mace on the weapon rack, then unclasping her gauntlets.

The messenger shook his head. "No, Captain. The words 'with all haste' were used."

Concern flashed across the Keeper's face, and her wings twitched involuntarily at the reply. She nodded to the messenger, grabbed her mace again from the rack, then quickly made her way to the door, walking down the hallway with long strides.

The Circle meant news, and the urgent summons meant danger. _Danger? What kind of danger?_ It was not as if Tremlen could possibly be in peril. Not without her and all the Keepers having known about it for at least a week in advance. Dragons, then? Could the Kaiser have broken the Shell Oath?

_Or could it finally be-_ she cut that thought off before it had fully formed. All would come to pass in the Goddess's due time, and to feel impatient would be a sin against Her wisdom.

"There you are, Nicoletta!" James's voice intruded on her thoughts as she strode into the Summoning Hall. She looked around, eyes going wide at the sight of scorch marks on the floor surrounding the Circle, some reaching nearly to the wall. Several other Captains were gathered as well-it looked like all who were currently stationed in Tremlen-and two full Hands of soldiers, several of whom had singed tabards. A few even appeared to have burnt their wings somewhat!

"Commander! What happened here?" She glanced over at James, High Commander of Earthly Forces, with concern on her face. Evidence of a fire here meant grave danger.

"We're still not certain, but now that everyone's here, let's go over what we know. About half an hour ago, we received an urgent request from the node at Saroa for an inspection team. They claimed that the Outlier had been located. We began the work to open the portal. When the ritual was almost complete, and the portal was beginning to stabilize, the energies began to be disrupted, as if those on the other side had lost their hold on the ritual.

"We attempted to complete it from our side, but within minutes powerful flames began to surge through the portal, and we were forced to abort the ritual immediately for our own safety. We can only consider the node in Saroa to be lost, and the objective to retrieve the Outlier in jeopardy."

Daniel, one of the other Captains, spoke up. "Dragonfire? If the Outlier's totem has manifested and he has turned against us, our entire mission may be in danger."

Nicoletta nodded. This was certainly not part of the plan. Not to mention the likely loss of a... "What of the Seal?" she asked. "What's the damage potential there?"

"Moderate," James replied. "Possibly severe, should the Outlier be an active heretic and not simply a pawn."

Captain Jacob spoke up. "So how will we respond to this?"

"At the moment, what we need is information. Nicoletta, take a Hand to Saroa and survey the area. Learn what you can, but avoid making contact with the Outlier if at all possible. We need to know what we're dealing with."

The angel saluted, pressing a gauntletted fist to her breastplate. "The Goddess's will be done, Commander." She turned and strode from the room to gather her troops.


	9. Chapter 9

A low growl formed in Karl's throat when he realized what must be going on. Defending themselves from the Keepers was one thing, but to lock them inside the church and burn it down around their heads... didn't those idiots know _anything_? He tried to call out to Ryan, but the fool boy was in full dragonmind now, charging off towards a battle that didn't exist.

"Stay here until I get back," he ordered Katherine. The ranger took off his boots, shrugged out of his pack, and removed his sword, then sprinted a few steps and leapt into the air, drawing deeply upon his totem. His legs shortened and arms lengthened, hands shifting to padded paws over the course of a second or two. He hit the ground in a furious gallop, chasing after Ryan at a pace no biped could hope to match. The myrmidon had enough of a head start that Karl wouldn't catch him in time, but at least he could help keep the damage to a minimum, with any luck.

He saw Ryan fly over the wall of the town and worried. That would slow him down. Not much, but even a few seconds could mean lives. The wall was not particularly high, but even so...

The wolf ran up to the wall as quickly as he could, then jumped straight up, shifting his forepaws back to hands. He grasped frantically at the top of the wall, his fingers finding purchase as his hind claws dug into the wooden wall of the palisade. He quickly heaved himself up and over, leaping off the top of the wall and shifting his hands back to paws, landing on all fours and racing towards the church.

He arrived just moments after the myrmidon came within view of the burning building, saw him looking around in confusion. A confused, worried dragon is never a good thing to be near, and this one had no control over his abilities yet. He was here with a clear purpose-to fight and defend the town-and there was no threat.

_May be one soon enough,_ the ranger thought to himself. He dug in his claws to bring himself to a stop, tossing his head back and emitting a loud, wolfish howl.

The assembled villagers turned at the sound, staring at him as he quickly turned himself back to his civilized form. Ryan, hovering three feet in the air beside him, turned and looked down at him, blazing orange draconic eyes filled with puzzlement and worry, dragon blade clenched tightly in his clawed fist.

Karl glowered at the shamans. "The fire's served its purpose. Now put it out!" he barked. Turning to face the dragon, "Ryan! The Keepers are not a threat, but that fire is. You and the shamans need to stop it, as fast as you can!"

The dragon understood, on some level at least. Unfortunately, it understood too well. The ultimate source of the flame was the two shamans, and they hadn't stopped conjuring it, so they were part of the threat. His free hand reached out, and William found himself encased in a prism of blue light, isolating him from the rest of the world. Sasha, the other shaman, saw this and quickly released the spell, conjuring water and ice instead.

The magical rain _sizzled_ when it hit the burning wood, hissing and turning to steam. But to the dragon, apparently, that was not enough. If the fire was a threat, it needed to be nullified quickly. Its hand reached out, calling flames of its own, flickering a dark, spectral violet hue. As the confused villagers and two horrified shamans watched, the dragon swept its hand from left to right, spraying voidfire all over the burning structure. Where it touched the burning wood, the flames themselves seemed to crystallize, turning to ice and shattering.

"No, not like that!" Sasha cried, but it was too late. To a dragon, will and action are one, and even had it heard her warning, its will was already in effect. The voidfire transmuted the soaring flames into towering columns of dense, heavy ice, jagged and spiked like the flame it was born from. The ice cracked and shattered, falling in upon the church, its weight doing what the flames alone had not, cracking the support beams of the no-longer-burning edifice. The gutted church began to crumble and fall in upon itself.

William, who had been battering at the isolation spell all along, finally managed to nullify it. He fell to his knees, gasping for fresh air. "Karl!" he snapped between pants, "what's going on?"

The wolf looked around, worried. "Someone get me a sword! Quickly!" Turning to the shamans, he snarled his displeasure. "I'd have thought you, of everyone here, would have had the good sense not to destroy a church of the Goddess. Don't you know what these buildings _are_?"

"They're holy sites unto the Goddess," William answered.

"_Someone bring me a sword!_ No, you fool! Am I the only one in the entire village who knows the history? They're built around ancient shrines that the first priests built to focus the seals, to hold back the Ancient Lords! And you just shattered one!"

The ground began to rumble directly beneath the church building. "Everyone who can't fight, get away!" the wolf shouted. "You!" He pointed to Ryan's father. "Give me your sword and get clear!"

The mob of villagers began to run in all directions, dispersing in a rush. Karl snatched the rapier from the rabbit-totem's hand and shoved him roughly in the direction of the street. "Run!" Only he, Ryan, the shamans and Noren stayed behind. The stoic ox-totem grunted and grasped the haft of his forge hammer in two meaty hands, holding it over his shoulder in preparation for a mighty swing.

"Stand clear!" Karl warned, backing up. The others followed his example, even Ryan, though the dragon looked down at him in confusion.

The shaking grew worse, then the charred wood and melting ice seemed to sink into the earth, the ground falling away, slowly forming a sinkhole. A scarlet three-fingered hand the size of the ox smith's torso reached up from beneath the earth, each finger tipped with a massive talon as long as a human hand. A lord of the Voidhell Beyond began to drag itself up from the pit...


	10. Chapter 10

_**Filth! Despoiler! Abomination!**_ The dragon did not need to be told that the gigantic crimson _thing_ clawing its way up out of the pit was an enemy. It seemed to possess a primal, instinctual hatred for the demon. The dragon exerted its will, and the dragon blade it held grew longer, broader and heavier, both blade and hilt lengthening, the magic weapon transforming from a large one-handed sword to a massive double-handed version. Two clawed hands wrapped tight around the hilt, and two scaled wings beat hard against the air, driving the myrmidon towards the ground with the point of the sword aimed directly downwards.

An eerie, hollow ringing sound filled the air as the blade pierced the demon's finger. It sunk through a few inches of flesh, then met something hard, hard enough to even turn aside a dragon blade. The swordpoint slid down the curve of the demon's bone-or whatever it had instead of bone-and sliced open a large cut in the creature's skin over the course of about a second and a half. The wound oozed some thin and foul-smelling fluid of a dull yellow color that bubbled and foamed when it hit the soil.

The demon let out a deep bellow of anguish as it slowly pulled its head up above the ground. It reached over to try to swat at Ryan, but a quick flap of his wings and the dragon was safely beyond its range.

_**Destroy this monstrosity!**_ the dragon raged. He raised one hand, the sword quickly returning to its previous size, and _pulled_. For several dozen yards around, pebbles, rocks and loose debris of all sorts, including charred hunks of wood from the church, rose up from the ground, high up into the air. Ryan closed his fist, and the various debris came hurtling downwards and inwards, striking the demon from all directions at once. He was only peripherally aware of his other companions throwing themselves to the ground to avoid the deadly shower of small objects.

The demon raised a hand of its own, causing the air to swirl about it, deflecting some of the projectiles, but a good number struck it all around its enormous crimson head and neck, opening gashes small and large, bleeding more of the vile yellow fluid.

William stood quickly, holding his hands over his head, then quickly thrusting them forward. A flow of pure water burst from his palms, spraying out and dousing the demon. It roared in pain, and William turned his hands so the water would spray into its mouth. Sasha caught on and joined in with her power, soaking the demon with the combined output of a small stream, diluting its abominable blood and getting in its mouth in great quantities.

Perhaps the demon needed to breathe, or perhaps the water was simply inimical to its nature in some way, but it seemed to fear the stream of water. It gurgled and conjured fire, throwing it at the shamans. Ryan instinctively reached out and nullified it with voidfire, freezing and shattering the flame bolts, leaving both shamans to dive out of the way of a small but dangerous hailstorm.

For all his talk of needing a sword, Karl at least had the good sense to stay clear of the battle. Not so Noren. The smith bellowed a deep warcry and leapt onto the demon's head, swinging his forge hammer down with both hands, driving the head of it into one of his enemy's eyes.

The demon roared at this and tossed its head backwards, though the hammer had not done any apparent damage. It sank into the eyeball a little, then bounced off again without breaking or deforming the eyeball in any way. The smith was thrown loose, but it gave Ryan an idea. He pushed off with his legs, leaping forward, then used his wings to give him the maximum momentum as he brought his sword out in front of him. The myrmidon drove the dragon blade into the demon's enormous eyeball, thrusting it in up to the hilt, then clawed at its surface for good measure before pushing back and leaping backwards to safety to try to avoid the imminent counterstrike.

A crimson hand swept down towards him, and the dragon raised the blade and fell to one knee, letting the demon injure itself further against its length. The impact jarred the dragon, knocking him back a few steps, but he was uninjured.

By this time, the shamans were back up and conjuring more water to assault the voidhell-spawn. The half-blinded monster seemed to feel fear for the first time. It clasped its hands together and began to gather power, and the dragon's blood tingled. Ryan leapt forward again to strike at the other eye...

...but his sword met nothing as the demon lord suddenly vanished with a loud crack, a minor thunderclap of displaced air. The dragon faltered, then caught its equilibrium with its wings and quickly descended to the ground. Looking down, Ryan saw a gaping pit where the demon had been, descending at least thirty feet beneath the ruined church site.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Follow it! **_The dragon raged. _**Eradicate it!**_ But there are limits to all things, even the power of a dragon's will. With no knowledge of the demon's current location, and no training in the subtleties of magic, it had no way of actually finding the vanished demon in order to pursue it.

An intense surge of frustration washed over the dragon at finding its will opposed and thwarted by something so simple and inconsequential as reality. It began to draw power unto itself from the world around, sending the magic outwards in all directions as a crude but effective locator spell. It would find the enemy, and then pursue and engage it again!

"Ryan!" From somewhere outside of itself, a figure of the world spoke a familiar name. The dragon ignored it; meaningless sounds from a lesser being.

"Ryan, stop. We're safe now, the village is safe." Frustration turned to irritation and confusion as the words continued, and spoke something that _was not_. The village could not be safe with the abomination alive and free. Nothing in the world would be safe. How could these words speak something that _is not_?

From the dragon's _othermind_ a concept presented itself: deception. Speaking words that are not in order to alter the will of another. An act of malice, an act of harm. _**Whoso speaks such words is my enemy.**_ The dragon raised one hand, pointing it towards the new enemy, the being holding a sword, but attacking with words. _**Let my enemy die.**_

_No._ A fierce surge of emotion from the othermind washed over the dragon, attempted to impose its own will on the act. _Not an enemy, a friend. Karl._ The dragon's hand began to lower slightly, impelled by the surprisingly strong will of the othermind.

_**Deception. The act of an enemy!**_ the dragon raged.

_Misunderstanding,_ the othermind rebutted. _A lack of knowledge. A smaller perspective._

The concept troubled the dragon. To speak that which was not, by thinking, seeing, believing that which was not? Confusion filled its mind. To deceive without intent? To be deceived by the world? To deceive oneself, even? How could such things be? The othermind thinks in fearsome circles, shadows and loops.

While the dragon was distracted, puzzling over these disturbing thoughts, the othermind rallied its will, and one clear thought overrode all others, its strength of will flowing over the dragon and almost drowning it.

_I am Ryan._

The youth fell to his knees, gasping in pain as his scales, wings and claws receded. The scales especially; they left behind rough, irritated skin that felt like it had been rubbed raw. Karl was saying something-he couldn't quite make it out-but Sasha pointed towards him and he felt soothing energies caress him, the healing magic settling into his skin and easing the irritation.

As his human nature reasserted itself, he felt the dragon receding to its own domain in the back of his consciousness, lurking there, waiting for the opportunity to exert its fearsome will upon him again.

He placed his hands on his knees, slowly pushing himself up to a standing position. "It's all right," he said to his comrades, who were staring at him. "It's me, I'm... back now."

"That's good to hear," said Karl, sounding relieved. "We'll need you. We've got quite a mess to clean up."


	12. Chapter 12

"You can't be serious, Karl," Sasha objected, giving the lupine an incredulous look. Several of the villagers assembled together in the town hall for the late-evening meeting nodded agreement. The wolf-totem's suggestion was ridiculous on the face of it.

"And why not?" Karl retorted. "With all respect to your and William's abilities, there are only two powers in this world with the might to confront demon lords: Dolan and Miriam, and it wasn't Dolan's followers who sealed them away originally. Not that it would help if it was, since we've only got one dragon we can even contact at all, and he's but a whelp still. No, the Church is our only choice."

"Not sure if you noticed," Sasha responded, "but we just made it quite clear that the Church isn't welcome here. We'd look a bit strange going to them for help now, especially as the angels would call us a dragoncult. They'd rather see us all dead than raise a sword in our defense!"

Karl shook his head. "They don't know what happened yet. If they had managed to open a portal to Tremlen before you set fire to the church, you never would have lived long enough to start the fire. But they didn't, which means that all the angels know is that one of their churches has burned down. Or maybe not even that much. But why did it burn? Who knows? Accidents happen all the time. With all those candles they use in ceremonies, it was bound to happen somewhere sooner or later. Today fate caught up with them, and the place where it happened was Saroa. That's all."

A frown crossed Noren's face. "You're telling us we need to go to the priests and the angels, servants of the Goddess, and _lie to their faces_, Karl?" He traced a symbol of warding in the air.

"Do you have a better plan?" Karl stood his ground, looking Noren in the eyes, then turning to Sasha and William, then various other villagers. "Does anyone here? I don't like it any more than you do, but what else can be done?"

"We could hunt it down ourselves and finish it off!" Noren snorted. "You were there, you saw what we could do. It's no match for us, especially with Ryan and that magic sword of his, right, boy?" He walked over and clapped Ryan on the back with a large, meaty hand. "What are you so worried about, Karl? It's just an oversized demon."

Karl laughed bitterly at the suggestion, and made a show of looking around the room. "Is there a _bard_ present tonight? You make this sound like an adventure from some minstrel's saga, Noren." He turned to William. "You'd have a better explanation for this than I would, I'd wager."

William hesitated, not wanting to admit that Karl was right, but the lore was clear and it would be dishonest to deny it. "Actually, it's not just a larger version of a feral imp some warlock's apprentice conjured up. The demon lords are frighteningly powerful and intelligent. What we faced there had been sealed away for centuries. You'd be no better in a fight if you were both starving and groggy from having just awoken out of a deep sleep. But it'll be recovering its strength right now.

"And remember that it was sealed away, not slain, in the first place. Which can only mean one of two things. Either both Miriam and Dolan lacked the power to kill it, or they chose not to, in their knowledge and wisdom, knowing that to do so would bring some consequence worse than letting it live. Either way, it would be folly for us to attempt to hunt it down."

"Not to mention its disappearing magic," Karl said.

"Teleportation," Sasha offered.

"Yes. From what I've heard, that's very advanced magic. Do either of you know anything about either causing teleportation or preventing someone else from using it?" Both shamans had to admit that they didn't. Their duties, and thus their expertise, lay mostly in helping village life to proceed smoothly.

Ryan felt he needed to speak up. "And what about me? The angels could sense my nature once my totem began to manifest. No one here will be safe if you invite more of them in and they catch sight of me."

Once again, Karl had a counter to the objection. "The Keepers aren't shamans, Ryan. They can't sense someone's totem. As long as you don't do something stupid, like walking around in Myrmidon form or waving a Dragon Blade in their faces, they might be a little uneasy around you but they won't know why without actually finding out."

"You think," said Ryan.

"Yes, I think!" Karl growled in exasperation. "I hope! What do you want from me? I can't _know_ any of this for sure, but the one thing I do know is that the only thing that has a chance against that demon out there are the dragons-plural-or the Church, and we can't bring in any dragons without reigniting the war. Anyone gonna disagree with either point?" He looked around the room, challenging anyone at all to raise even one more objection.

After several seconds of awkward silence, Laura, the Mayor, spoke up. She was Noren's wife, a tall, sturdily-built cow-totem of middle years. "It would appear not, Karl. You've made your case quite solidly, however unpleasant it may be. You have my leave to take your apprentices and seek aid from the Church at Relyn."

"My apprentices? Then who will guard the town, with the Keepers gone? No, they should stay behind."

Ryan shook his head. "_Katherine_ should stay behind. In case you're wrong, and the Keepers end up attacking me on sight, I want whatever happens to occur well away from Saroa."

Katherine hissed, bristling at Ryan's suggestion. "Rrremain behind, and let Rrryan have all the fun trraveling to Rrrelyn? No, I will come along too."

Laura nodded assent. "The men and women of Saroa showed today that they can handle themselves in a fight. Even should any monsters come out of the forest, the wall of the village is still intact. We'll live without the Rangers for a week or so."

Karl sighed, hesitating for a moment, then resolved himself to the inevitable. He'd already done plenty of persuading for one evening, and it wouldn't do to stretch his luck. "Very well. Ryan, Katherine, we leave in two days' time. You'd better get packing." 


	13. Chapter 13

It was a bit more than two days' travel southwest along the road from Saroa to Relyn, the nearest town of any size. The Prefecture was located there, and with it a garrison of Keepers. With any luck, they could recruit some priests and angels to deal with the escaped demon.

The first day passed rather uneventfully. The road was well-traveled, and if there were any bandits or monsters present, they at least had the good sense to avoid drawing the attention of a trio of armed Rangers. Ryan concealed his Dragon Blade by willing it to take the form of a metal bracer around his forearm, such as a bowman might wear. It would be better if he actually had a bow, but it ought to at least pass casual scrutiny, as long as no one looked too closely. If they did, they would notice that the metal was etched on one side with a likeness of the Dragon God, which Ryan couldn't seem to will away, so he turned the bracer so that it was on his inner arm, which was easier to conceal by simply keeping his arms at his sides.

The only real hardship he had to endure was Katherine. "I am Drrragon Totem!" she taunted, dropping her voice an octave, holding her staff high in the air and thrusting her chest out, head back, one foot in front of the other in some sort of mockery of a "heroic pose." "Ha! Rrryan thinks he is a herrro in some rrridiculous barrrd's adventurrre storrry."

Ryan glowered at her. "Have _you_ ever turned into a dragon, Katherine?"

"No! Why would I want to do that, and be all scaly?" She gave an exaggerated shudder.

He ignored the insult, and the implication that being dragon-totem was something he had wanted. "Then you don't know what it takes to turn into a dragon. And neither did I, until I tried that, and it worked. So maybe the bards are onto something, did you ever consider that?"

"Both of you, keep it down," Karl growled. "Last thing we need is to meet someone on the road and they hear you talking about that."

"Could be worrrse," Katherine said. "Someone could hearrr us and we don't meet them at all."

Ryan laughed at that. "Not too many people who could hide from rangers in flat, open terrain like this."

Karl nodded. "True, but the ones who can tend the ones we'd least want to overhear us, so just keep quiet."

Aside from having to endure Katherine's repeated taunts, nothing really noteworthy happened. They walked, when they were hungry they ate some of their trail rations, and they walked some more, and in the evening they made camp by the side of the road.

They broke camp early the next morning and headed onward. The sun was still low on the horizon when the road headed into a forest. "Keep your wits about you," Karl said. "It's unlikely anything will happen, but if there's anywhere along our path where we'll be attacked, it will be among the trees where someone can spring an ambush." It would only be about two hours' walk to reach the other side of the forest. The trio made sure to keep alert, their eyes sweeping back and forth and making sure to mind the canopy above them, watching out for bandits, or worse, monster attacks.

After about half an hour, Karl stopped and held up a hand. "Someone's coming," he murmurred in a low voice.

They moved forward slowly, alert for any potential mischief. After a moment, a woman walked out from around the bend. Ryan's eyes widened a little at the sight of her. She had wings!

She was not an angel. The Keepers were eight feet tall and liked to wear armor, while this woman was a few inches over five feet, dressed in a simple brown robe. She carried a staff decorated with arcane runes, and bore a thin rapier hanging from her belt. Ryan had heard of the Wing Clan before, but he had never actually met a bird-totem. Unlike most other totem lines, they were a highly insular people who kept to themselves, with a few rare exceptions. It would seem that this was one of them, an itinerant Wing Clan mage seeking knowledge of the wider world.

"Hail, traveler!" Karl greeted as she approached, waving to her with one hand to show he was not holding any weapon.

"Hail... rangers?" the mage replied, putting a questioning note into the salutation as she approached and saw the three. Ryan had to force himself not to stare as she came close. She was beautiful! And quite young, about Ryan and Katherine's own age. He would have expected a wandering mage to have a few more years behind her, especially from an isolated culture like the Wing Clan.

Karl nodded as he approached, extending a hand in welcome. "Well met. I am Karl of Saroa, and these are my apprentices, Ryan and Katherine."

The young mage smiled uncertainly, hesitating for a moment before clasping Karl's hand gently. "Nicole," she said in a soft voice. "Well met."

"We're bound for Relyn," Karl said, releasing her hand and stepping back half a pace. "We've seen no danger thus far. How is the road ahead?"

Nicole smiled softly. "I left from Olxera, so I can't speak of anything beyond the crossroads, but I've seen nothing interesting thus far, until just now." She happened to glance at Ryan when she said that, and he felt himself flush.

_That's not what she meant!_ he thought, berating himself and trying to maintain his composure. He'd never been one that girls took much of an interest in, especially pretty ones! (Katherine's incessant taunting and general competitiveness most certainly Did Not Count.)

Karl nodded, oblivious to his apprentice's hormone-driven angst. "Thank you, m'lady. And where are you bound?"

"Noplace in particular," she said. "I'm visiting the towns and villages in this region, speaking with mages and shamans to trade knowledge and learn, that I may advance in my arts." She smiled shyly. "Perhaps I will visit Saroa sometime soon."

Ryan didn't know why, but he felt compelled to step forward. "We'll be returning shortly. If you don't mind a few extra days on the road, you could accompany us. For safety." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Katherine's head turn to glance at him, and his cheeks began to burn. Why had he done that? Especially in front of her! She would certainly find some reason to taunt him about it later.

Nicole turned an absolutely radiant smile on him at the offer, but it only lasted a brief moment. She glanced around at the three, her eyes lingering for a moment on their weapons, then shook her head. "Thank you for your kind offer, Ryan of Saroa," the mage said, "but as your Master said, the roads are clear behind you. I would not wish to be a burden upon you."

All sorts of potential answers to that sprang to Ryan's mind, but something, either wisdom or a simple self-preservation instinct in the presence of Katherine, caused him to hold his tongue. "Very well," he said, nodding his head politely. "Then... perhaps you will visit Saroa sometime soon."

She smiled at the three rangers as she turned to walk around them. "Yes. Thank you, Karl, Ryan, and Katherine," she said as she walked on.

The three looked at each other briefly, then continued their journey. And of course, no sooner was Nicole out of sight when Katherine began to snicker. "Did you see the way Rrryan got all flusterrred in the prrresence of that birrrd-girrrl? He likes herrr!"

"Shut up, Katherine!"

Once the travelers were out of sight, Nicoletta waited patiently for a half hour, then turned and began to retrace her steps, eventually turning off the path near the edge of the forest and making her way to a hollow tree nearby. She retrieved her armor from where she had stowed it, then dispelled the enchantment masking her form and began to outfit herself properly.

_So, that was the Outlier,_ she said to himself. He had not been what she had expected, not at all, but the drakemetal bracer he wore was quite distinctive, and she had caught a quick glimpse of the telltale etching he was trying to conceal as she stepped past him. What was he doing on the road to Relyn? She was glad one of her Hand had spotted the three entering the forest and given them time to conceal themselves. She had expected to find him in his home. _Now, how will I deal with this?_


	14. Chapter 14

_"Before all that we knew was, this world was a place of chaos, lost and adrift, a wanderer in the Voidhell and a playground for demons. But the Goddess Miriam looked upon our world and saw that which was good upon it as well. She interposed her Heaven between the earth and the Voidhell, and sent angels and mighty priests from above to cleanse the world of demons, that Mankind, her children, could live upon it in peace._"

There was a worship service in session when the trio arrived at the chapel in Relyn. The rest of the trip had gone by without incident, and they'd had no trouble from the Keepers at the gates of town. Not even any strange looks for Ryan. They got directions to the Prefecture and made their way inside quietly, taking seats near the back and waiting for the service to be over. The priest was reading from the _Principio_, the first section of the Codex. He spoke of the story it told, of the struggle against the demons, and of the nobility of the first men. His voice lowered gravely as he read of the greatest of all demons, the mighty dragon Dolan, whose power rivaled that of the Goddess, and of their struggle one with another.

He spoke of the truce that was formed when Dolan saw that which was noble and good among Mankind, how he pledged to preserve the Goddess's children, even against the depredations of his his own less wise kin, and of the price that the dragon-god had extracted: much as demons could possess the bodies of animals, warping and twisting them into horrible monsters, Dolan's influence among Mankind had slowly altered humanity, melding their souls with the souls of beasts over the space of many generations.

The priest concluded his sermon by offering an interpretation: within all men, there is the essence of the Goddess mixed with the essence of demons. He warned that while the Goddess entices to do good continually, to live righteously and to seek to build up Mankind, the Demon tempts all to do evil, to seek only their own well-being and tear down all that is good around them. He preached that it was important to recognize the source of such influences and make a conscious effort to keep oneself pure, and that the great struggle against the demons had not ended, but simply changed its venue, from the battlefields of the early world to the hearts of individual men and women.

He concluded his sermon, to a soft but sincere chorus of _Amen_ from the congregation. Hymns were sung and a prayer of supplication was offered to the Goddess, then the service was over and people got up to leave. A few gave the rangers sidelong glances-it was not uncommon to see members of the Ranger Guild in town, but these three were unfamiliar, and it was not at all common for Rangers to bring their weapons into a church with them!-but no one spoke to them or caused any problems.

When most of the people had cleared out, Karl stood and nodded to Ryan and Katherine. They slowly walked towards the pulpit, where the priest, a frog-totem of medium height and somewhat greater than medium girth, was tidying up a little in preparation for leaving. His eyes widened when he saw three armed Rangers approaching.

"Good day to you, Rangers. I hope nothing is amiss in Relyn?"

Karl shook his head. "No, not that I know of, Father..."

"Evan," the priest offered. "What brings you to the House of the Goddess today?"

"We need to speak to the garrison commander of the local Keepers barracks, on urgent business from Saroa. Remember how you said in your sermon that the age of fighting demons physically was over?" Father Evan nodded, and Karl continued. "It's not so over as you'd think, Father. There was an unfortunate accident in the village, and our chapel caught fire."

Evan's eyes became wider still. "How bad was it?"

The wolf-totem looked at him grimly. "So you know, then? Few do anymore, even those who should. The Seal beneath the building was broken, and some gigantic demon emerged. Killed Father Paul and our Keepers in a fierce struggle, then pulled some magic and vanished. We don't know where it is now or what it's doing, but we'd rather not have it roaming the countryside." It was the story they had decided to tell before they left Saroa.

The skin beneath the frog-totem's chin bulged in alarm. "I see," he said. "Well, this is quite grave. Come with me."

He led them out of the chapel and through the Prefecture complex to the Keeper barracks. "I need to speak to Captain Ruben about a matter of the greatest urgency," he said to the angel on guard at the front door. The soldier nodded and opened the doors for them, welcoming them in and sending another Keeper to fetch the Captain.

Ruben was tall, even for a Keeper, standing almost a head taller than any of the other angels in the garrison. He wore a massive steel sword in a sheath on his back, and his wings were a bright blue in color, a somewhat startling contrast to the usual white, and eyes of an odd purple-gray hue. He listened impassively as Karl told their tale, glancing between him, Katherine, Ryan and Evan slowly. "This is... certainly worrisome," he agreed when they were finished, hesitating a little as he spoke. "We don't have the resources to deal with this ourselves, but I will communicate with Tremlen at once."

"Trrremlen?" asked Katherine. "Strrraight to the capital? Isn't that cirrrcumventing a few rrranks in the hierrrarrrchy?"

The tall angel nodded grimly. "It is, but those seals have held for thousands of years. The warrior priests are long since dead, and so are all their grandchildren. If this is truly one of the Ancient Lords, it may be an even greater threat to us than the dragons were. This requires immediate attention from the highest levels of the Church." He turned to Karl. "Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention, Ranger Karl of Saroa. Please remain here until I return." He gave the three rangers a military salute, then turned to Father Evan. "Father, I will require the use of your facilities."

The frog-totem nodded. "Of course, Captain." The two of them left the barracks together, leaving the three rangers behind, and a soldier showed them to the mess hall, where they could rest from their journey and recover their strength with a hot meal.

It was only a few minutes after they finished eating when Captain Reuben returned from communicating with the capital. "Tremlen is aware of your loss already, through the grace of the Goddess," he said to the Rangers. "Though they did not know of the extent of the damage. They have been preparing a response team, and it will be ready tomorrow morning. You may rest here tonight, or at the inn in town if you'd prefer beds your own size, and then escort them back to Saroa on the morrow."

Karl nodded assent. "Thank you, Captain. We'll meet you back here at sunrise." He clasped hands with the Keeper, then the three left.

"Can we stay at the inn tonight?" Ryan asked once they were safely away from the Prefecture. "I'd really prefer not to sleep surrounded by angels, just in case."

Karl nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. We'll meet up at the inn at sundown. For now, you two go off and see the sights, enjoy yourselves for the rest of the day. It's likely to be the last self-time you'll have for quite a while." 

* * *

Author's note: Here we get our first look at cosmology, as understood by the Church of the Goddess. It's likely that, if you were to ask a dragon, (or a demon if you could communicate with one,) they would tell a somewhat different story... 


	15. Chapter 15

_**WAKE**_

The word was more than a thought, or even a sound. It was a _will_, and it pulled Ryan instantly out of his peaceful slumber. He came wide awake and fully alert in an instant, his body still somewhat weary-it felt like he had only slept for a few hours-but his mind fully roused, without even the usual disorientation one experiences when waking in an unfamiliar bed. An excited, primal thrill tingled through his blood, and it took a few moments for the youth to realize what had happened. His totem had awoken him? Why?

_**FOE**_

Ryan sighed. The dragon must have somehow sensed the arrival of the angels from Tremlen and mistaken them for a threat. _Go away,_ he thought wearily. _They're not my enemy if they don't know I'm dragon-totem,_ he thought, rolling over and closing his eyes, trying to snuggle into the thin, uncomfortable mattress of the bed and get back to sleep. He found himself wishing they'd chosen to lodge at the inn afterall, even though staying at the barracks for the local Rangers' Guild had been his idea-one more minor layer of precaution against being discovered by the Keepers, who expected them to be staying at the inn.

_**NO!**_

There was something more to the totem's odd voice in his mind, the thoughts that spoke to him in the short space between the beats of his heart. Urgency, frustration, annoyance. A mental tone that somehow distinctly conveyed an impression that _yes-I-know-about-the-Keepers-and-that's-not-what-I'm-warning-you-about! _It made Ryan shudder a little as he realized just how quickly the draconic part of his soul was accommodating itself to conscious life inside of his head.

But what other "foe" did he have? Unless... _the demon? Here?_

_**YES**_

_Of course. It's not as if my life could ever be simple for once._ He rolled out of bed, crossed the few feet to Karl's bed, and lightly shook his Master by the shoulder. "_Karl! Hsst! Wake up!_" he whispered urgently.

The wolf-totem's arm suddenly lashed out, his hand grasping Ryan's forearm tightly and twisting painfully. Then just as suddenly, it relaxed as the veteran came awake and saw who it was, in the dim bit of light from the half-moon that made its way through the barracks window. He growled softly as he pulled his hand back, "that's not the best way to-"

"Yeah, I know," Ryan murmured ruefully. "Get up. The demon's coming. My- _it_ woke me up," he whispered. "Sensed it somehow."

There was a slight rustling in the darkness, and Ryan felt Karl getting out of bed. "All right, get your armor. I'll wake Katherine." Unlike his apprentice, the veteran had slept in his leather armor, and only needed to buckle on his belt and ready his crossbow, quiver, and sword. Ryan briefly wondered why he bothered. Such mundane weapons would be little use against the demon, as Noren and his hammer had demonstrated!

_For that matter,_ he thought as he started to don his own armor, _what good will waking Katherine do?_ Magical talent was not particularly rare among the feline totems, but the tigress had never shown any knack for it herself.

There was a stirring in the dimness, and another Ranger woke, glancing over at Ryan, then rolling out of bed and approaching slowly. He was a lizard-totem, short but strong and solidly-built. Ryan couldn't tell in the dim light, but he seemed to recall briefly meeting the warrior the previous evening. "Everything all right, lad?"

Ryan glanced over at Karl apprehensively, but he was gone already, off to the women's barracks to get Katherine. "Erm..." he hesitated.

"What's wrong? It's a bit early for you to be waking, I'd think."

Ryan had no time to think up a plausible lie. And if the demon lord was really approaching, they'd all know about it soon enough! "It's the demon," he murmured quietly. "The one we came to get help with." In the dim light, he saw the outline of the lizard-totem's head nodding. "It's coming. Coming here, I mean."

Another nod. "How do you know?" the ranger asked in his soft, subtly hissing voice. "Got a touch of the Gift in you? Or were you marked by it?" His tone turned a bit darker there. A demon-mark was a curse, and one generally did not come by it without having chosen willingly to involve oneself in the affairs of demons.

Ryan shook his head, glad for the easy excuse the inquisitive Ranger had provided. "No, I have some magic in me." He hesitated, then, "when the attack came, I think I might have hurt it. That might be why it's coming here."

The ranger nodded. "Well, how long do we have before it's here?"

Ryan bit his lip. "I'm not sure. I just know that it's nearby, and approaching."

Another nod. "Then the town's in danger," he said. He quickly turned and strode towards the door. Ryan almost told him to wait, to stop, but that would have only brought more uncomfortable questions. And he was right, the demon was a risk to all of Relyn. He knew what was coming, but the dragon-totem still winced when the stillness of the night was shattered by the loud _crash_ of a gong being rung once, twice, and a third time.

The barracks-room erupted into movement all over, with warriors sitting up, making inquisitive noises, and quickly starting to gird themselves for battle. Torches along the walls were lit, illuminating the room with something stronger than moonlight. And suddenly Karl came back through the door, with Katherine at his side. She had somehow managed to don her armor already, Ryan noted with an odd sense of detachment and just a hint of irritation.

"Rrryan! What have you gotten us into?" The tigress growled.

Ryan quickly finished fastening on his armor, then headed over towards the doorway. "It's the demon," he said. "It's coming this way."

Katherine opened her mouth, but whatever she said was drowned out by a sudden, loud _crack_, from outside. It was a sound like splintering wood, but to be so loud an entire tree's worth would have to be involved!

"I think it just arrived," Karl noted grimly.


	16. Chapter 16

_Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait and then the short chapter. Hope this makes up for it. This is easily the longest chapter I've ever written in this story..._

-

Relyn erupted into chaos. Between the gong-beats at the nearby Rangers' Guild and the shattering of the town's wall as the thirty-foot demon kicked its way through the palisade, the noise was enough to rouse the town guards, and then the Keepers at their barracks. Armed and armored Rangers, guardsmen and angels began to pour into the streets, as did confused citizens awakened by the racket.

When the wall was broken, it tripped wards that resonated a mile away in the Mages' Sanctum. The ring of crystal orbs, each three feet across, that encircled the top of the tower suddenly became lit with an eerie yellow-green glow, and mages began to awaken, making their way to the top to defend their home.

In his cloister at the back of the church, Father Evan was awakened by the violation of other wards. The stout frog-totem quickly donned his habit and made his way up the steps to the bell-tower.

And within the all-but-abandoned barracks of the Rangers' Guild, two Rangers tried to persuade a third not to do something foolhardy.

"What good would it do, Ryan?" Karl asked bluntly.

Ryan ran his fingers over the metal bracer he still wore on his forearm. "What _good_ would it do? You mean, what good would the only weapon that hurts it do?"

"Don't be a fool, boy; this isn't a village! They've got an entire barracks of Keepers with holy weapons. There's a mages' tower with a dozen Orbs of Defense. There are at least three full priests of Miriam a score of acolytes, and at least twice that many shamans. Every last one of them has _years_ more training and experience in battle and the magical arts than you, and every last one of them would turn on you in a heartbeat if you draw your sword or go Totemform!"

_**STRIKE!**_

The dragon raged within his mind, driving him, almost a compulsion. "It's my nature," the blue-haired youth said stubbornly. "I must protect these people."

"Then prrrotect them," Katherine said. "Help brrring them to safety, lead the innocents away frrrom the fighting."

The sky lit up harshly, and all three had to shield their eyes as night suddenly turned as bright as day. Father Evan and the other priests of the town were not trained for battle, but they could call upon the Goddess's power to bring sight to the blind, as it were, lighting the area so the fighters could see to fight and the civilians could see to escape. They heard the demon _roar_ in response, followed quickly by the sound of people screaming in pain.

_**SEAL**_

A thrill of dread ran down Ryan's spine as clarity dawned. "Karl? Are _all_ churches built upon a sealed demon lord? They can't be, right?"

The wolf-totem blinked at the sudden change of subject. "No. But most of the old ones are..." then he understood. "Like the Prefecture!"

Ryan shoved his way past his two companions and broke into a wild dash for the old chapel. He saw a group of five Keepers heading the other way and stood directly in their path, arms held out to either side to block their way. "Turn back!" he yelled. "It's coming for the church!" But they ignored him, one shoving him aside roughly as they ran past.

He stumbled to the ground, groaning as his breath was knocked out. The young Ranger rolled to his feet, and caught his first glimpse of the demon. It was immense, thirty feet tall at least, perhaps more. It was made in the basic shape of a man, but its face was deformed, bestial in some primal way that even Twinsouled humans were not. Five-foot fangs showed when it opened its mouth to roar at those standing to oppose it, and from head to foot its skin was a bright red, hairless and unnaturally smooth all over. The top of its head, above the eyes, was unnaturally rounded, almost a perfect dome. The sides bore long, thin vertical slits, with nothing resembling ears to cover them and direct sound inward.

The Keepers drew swords and maces and flapped their wings, flying upwards to attack, but the first strike went to the mages. The already-bright sky lightened further, then flashed three times as lightning bolts assaulted the demon from a cloudless sky.

The airborne Keepers veered away rapidly as the lightning was followed by a pulse of green energies flying rapidly over the mile's distance from the mages' tower to the demon, striking it and opening oozing yellow wounds in its red skin.

_Are they mad?_ Ryan thought in alarm. The magical attacks, powered by the massive Orbs of Defense, flew in at the demon heedless of any other warriors nearby. _No,_ he realized. _Not mad, but not coordinated._ It was something Karl had taught him. Multiple warriors not trained to fight together would get in each other's way as often as they would help each other, and the same held for multiple groups of warriors. That was why a hierarchy exists in any army, to provide a command authority to coordinate action on increasingly larger scales.

_**LEAD**_

There was another thing Karl had taught. People long for structure by nature, especially in a time of chaos and uncertainty. When command authority is absent, it arises naturally, with soldiers instinctively choosing to follow whoever steps forward to provide direction. _Was this what he taught me that for? _Ryan wondered as the dragon urged him to assume the role of protector, his birthright. _Has he been grooming me for an emergency like this? The first step to restoring the legitimacy of the ancient order?_

The demon roared again, interrupting Ryan's thoughts as it raised its hands and began to exert its will against the destructive magic radiating from the Mages' Sanctum. Instead of striking it, the energies swirled around it in mad spirals, then began to fly back towards the tower. To their credit, the mages noticed quickly. They stopped casting attack spells and hastily erected defensive barriers around their tower to absorb or nullify the magic that was being turned against them.

But with the mages distracted, the demon began to move, its eighteen-foot legs devouring great stretches of distance with each ponderous step as it began to walk towards the Prefecture. The Keepers rallied, flying about the demon and striking at its skin with their holy swords, but it seemed to take little notice, swatting idly at them with slow but massive hands that were easily dodged.

_Relyn is doomed,_ Ryan thought. Those fighting against the demon didn't know what to do, or how.

_**TEACH**_

Only someone who had fought it before would know what will harm it. The dragon's will pressed against him, and Ryan finally gave in. He placed his hand against his bracer, and it transformed into a Dragon Blade. _I will defend these, who cannot defend themselves!_ The dragon _roared_ within his mind, and his body began to shift, growing scales, claws and wings once again. But this time, it went further, a long, scaled tail such as lizard-totems bore erupting from the base of his spine.

The dragon took to the air, rage filling its mind but also paradoxically bringing a sense of perfect clarity. _**Let my voice be heard!**_ it willed, then opened its mouth. The magic of a dragon's will amplified and dispersed its deep, hissing voice such that all within Relyn could hear it equally.

_**"I am the protector-dragon, come to defend your home against the depredations of this abomination. Hear my words and heed them, lest you all fall!"**_ the dragon announced. _**"The demon wishes to destroy the Prefecture, to release its kin sealed therein. You of the sanctum, and all priests of the Goddess, use your power to strengthen the Prefecture, that our foe may not approach. You Keepers, angels sent from above to protect, strike with your blades at the demon's eyes. There it is most vulnerable. **_ _**You people of Relyn, who cannot fight, flee. Flee to the forests, and return not until your home is free of the demon. You Rangers and guardsmen of Relyn, charged with defending the people, this battle is not yours to fight. Bring the people you are sworn to protect to safety, aid them in their flight into the forests. Go now, heed my words and live, I am dragon, and your home is under my protection!"**_

The dragon sensed great surprise from the _othermind_, mixed with approval. He was impressed that the dragon had managed to communicate so clearly with the lesser creatures under its protection. It gave a mental snort of laughter. _**The othermind thinks me a child, blind and deaf and unable to learn.**_ The dragon was more amused than offended by this. The _othermind_'s thoughts were truly alien, but it had a fearsome strength of will. It had learned this already. Better to let the _othermind_ think such things, that that will not be turned against the dragon again. Was this not the essence of the _othermind_'s knowledge of deception? A powerful weapon indeed!

Throughout Relyn, people reacted to this news with considerably less amusement. Upon the tower of the Mages' Sanctum, the mages manning the defense orbs looked at each other in confusion. _A demon sealed within the Prefecture?_ they asked each other. _What nonsense! This demon has brought a dragon with it; it seeks to undermine our efforts and turn us against each other._ Only one among their number was familiar with the ancient lore. Fortunately, he was the eldest and most respected of the mages. But as he attempted to persuade his colleagues to listen to the dragon's words, precious time slipped away...

There was a good deal of grumbling among the Rangers. Even when they could see that the current foe was beyond their capability to deal with, to be ordered about by a dragon was an insult, especially to the veterans old enough to remember the dragons' former participation in the Ranger Corps and their subsequent betrayal.

"Isn't that one of the newcomers?" one asked his companion, as they moved from house to house in search of civilians in need of assistance.

"We should have expected this," the other replied. "Strangers showing up with tales of horrors loosed upon the world, and Darkmoon just beginning!"

The first ranger growled. "How can you even such a heresy, tonight of all nights? Look at the sky, you have your proof!"

Two other Rangers were particularly disturbed by the dragon's words. "Katherine, we have to leave, now. That fool boy's just made fugitives of both of us, and our entire village next. We need to get home, and quickly!"

As much as Katherine's tigress nature balked at fleeing from such an exciting fight, she could not disagree with Karl's assessment. "You'rrre rrright. Farrrewell, Rrryan." She and Karl slipped into the alleyways between some of the taller buildings, seeking shadows to lose themselves in as they made their way towards the rent in the town's wall.

From atop the bell-tower of the Prefecture, Father Evan listened to the dragon's words with dismay as they confirmed what he had already feared. All priests assigned to the Holy Sanctuaries were trained in the ancient lore, and accepted their callings with full knowledge of the horrors that slumbered beneath. The frog-totem began to call upon the power of the Goddess, and ancient sigils carved into the walls and walkways of the Prefecture complex began to shine with holy power. If this demon wished to violate his sanctuary, he would not do so unopposed!

Among the Keepers, righteous anger burned brightly at the galling awareness of a dragon in their midst, especially among those few who had personally spoken with the Rangers the previous day. But military discipline kept them focused on their primary task. A single dragon could wait, they all understood without the need to discuss or debate. They flew upwards, their weapons glowing with the light of the Goddess as they struck at the demon's face.

Surprisingly, the dragon's proclamation seemed to draw still more angels to the scene. From the direction of the forest, five Keepers flew in on swift wings, bearing swords and maces and holy fire. The dragon noted this with some puzzlement-it had believed that all the angels nearby were accounted for-and there was something tantalizingly familiar about the fierce female that flew at the head of the new group. Not any Keeper from the dragon's home, though. Perhaps it was a thing of the _othermind_. The dragon felt frustration at such clouded thoughts bleeding across and disrupting its clarity.

For now, the angels were inconsequential. What was important was the enemy. It continued to advance towards the Prefecture, conjuring magic to defend itself against the angels or turn them aside. Its relentless advance through the town was the true problem. _**Then let my enemy be halted.**_ The dragon raised its hands, and cast outward a bolt of magical power, striking the demon's right thigh.

The demon stumbled, then dropped to one knee, shaking the earth and roaring in frustration as its leg went numb and almost limp. It turned to focus on the irritant that opposed it so, lashing out with magical energies of its own, calling forth powerful needles of force to shred its assailant's scales and tear the flesh beneath. The dragon focused its will, and the mighty Dragon Blade it held altered its form, becoming a mighty shield. The dragon instinctively held the shield at an angle, bouncing the destructive magic away to impact harmlessly (relatively speaking) against the wall of the town.

The Keepers took advantage of the demon's distraction, moving in to strike from all directions. One of them called out a prayer of wrath and drove the tip of his blade into the demon's eye. The monster howled in pain, its ponderous hand coming up much faster than it had moved before. It wrapped massive fingers around the angel, clutching it and squeezing tightly, cracking armor and bones alike, then pressed the dying body to its enormous mouth. The demon opened wide, wide enough to fit half of an eight-foot angel inside, then bit down with a sickening _crunch_ and an accompanying shower of blood.

It quickly followed it down with the other half of the Keeper, devouring the angel, armor and all. The dragon sensed somehow that it was not simply eating it as food, but absorbing and draining away the vital energy of the angel's soul. The demon called forth a powerful swirling of air around it, driving the other Keepers back as it regained the use of its leg, standing and taking more steps towards the Prefecture.

_**Abomination!**_ the dragon raged. _**Let my enemy drown!**_ Recalling the demon's aversion to pure water, it conjured forth a mighty stream against the invader's head. It felt the demon attempting to twist the magic water around itself, as it had the mages' assault earlier, to throw back at its assailant, and the dragon countered with its own will, holding the water steady and pouring it towards the enemy's mouth.

As the two powerful wills remained locked in combat, a diffuse green glow spread across the Prefecture, the power of the mages finally adding their arcane defenses to Father Evan's spiritual abjurations. One of them, though, turned his Orb of Defense to its more common purpose, calling forth lightning bolts to strike at the demon.

The demon seized at the power of the lightning, hurling it at its draconic opponent. The dragon used its shield to deflect the lightning, knowing instinctively that it could not be harmed by the bolts while in flight. It retaliated with another spell of weakness, this one targeted at the demon's arm.

Keepers swooped in again, striking at the great monster's head, neck and back. The demon attempted to raise its hand to seize another one, but it found its hand unresponsive. Enraged, it swatted at the angels with its other hand, knocking two of them helplessly through the air until they managed to catch themselves with powerful wingbeats.

The demon roared again, this time louder than before. When the next lightning bolt came, its still-usable hand glowed a bright orange, and it somehow _caught_ the bolt of lightning, making it sizzle and spark around the demonic hand. It stepped forward again, its long strides bringing it almost to the Prefecture, then hurled the lightning bolt against the protective barriers.

The demon followed its attack up by conjuring a fireball the size of its own enormous head. The dragon acted quickly, calling voidfire to nullify the flame before it could be used as a weapon, transmuting it and leaving the demon holding a heavy orb of dense ice. When it saw this, it hurled the ice away. The massive ball, infused with conflicting demonic energies and the negative power of the void, crashed against the wards protecting the Prefecture and shattered, weakening the holy power that held it at bay.

_**Let my enemy be driven back!**_ The dragon flew in to join the Keepers as they flew past for another series of sword strikes. Abandoning the shield, the dragon formed its blade into its mightier two-handed state. Instead of the eye, the dragon struck this time at the demon's throat, imitating the angels' tactic of flying in at an angle and slashing at the point of closest approach. But the dragon did not slash; it _thrust_. Slashes of a sword may weaken, but it is the deep thrust that kills.

The demon stumbled backward as the dragon beat its wings, pulling free and flying upwards, away from the counterattack. Then it folded its wings and dove downward instead, its will impelling it down as fast as it could move, diving between the two massive legs to where the mighty dragon blade could strike at the back of them. The demon was formed at least somewhat after the form of a man; perhaps it had hamstrings and tendons to be cut. The dragon blade sliced into the bright red flesh, drawing forth more of the demon's foul yellow essence-blood, but this only drew a roar of anger. The demon raised its leg to kick at the dragon that assaulted it.

_**Let my enemy fall!**_ the dragon willed, seeing its foe foolishly attempt to raise its leg and kick out. A blast of wind flew from the dragon's hands, pushing the monster off-balance. The demon began to topple. It raised its good arm, flailing wildly, but without two arms it could not regain its balance. It stumbled and fell, directly against the wards of the Prefecture.

Magic sizzled, and demon-flesh scorched, seared by holy light and power. From the bell-tower, a lone figure looked down upon the despoiler. Father Evan called back the holy power he was using to light the sky, focusing it into a much more narrow application. Waves of light flowed over the demon, tormenting it and attempting to bind it that the warriors could assail it more easily. The dragon took advantage, flying by and slicing at the joint of the demon's good shoulder, opening yet another wound in the monster's hide, slick with vile yellow fluid.

As another Keeper flew in to attack, the demon rallied its remaining strength. Or perhaps it had simply been holding back and biding its time. Either way, the light vanished. All light vanished for a brief moment, the span of four heartbeats. The dragon could see nothing, but it could _hear_. Screams. Screams of agony, of torment and madness assaulted its ears, but beyond its ears, its very mind. And when the light returned, the dragon's heart fell.

The church was shattered. The horrible, soul-rending screams had been so loud that it did not even hear the building crumbling, but crumble it had. The bell-tower lay on the ground, some three blocks away, shattered. The Keepers were all far away, having been dispersed somehow. The dragon itself had been pushed back, it realized with alarm! The Prefecture was nearly half a mile away! And the bleeding demon stood tall, raising one massive foot and stomping down on the ruined Sanctuary.

The earth trembled slightly from the blow, then began to shake harder. An unearthly keening noise reverberated through the dragon's very soul, and a new horror began to emerge. Vastly different in form, this demonlord appeared as a beast in form. Supported by an array of six long, segmented legs vaguely suggestive of a spider, the twenty-foot monstrosity climbed from the pit that had held it imprisoned, its body and head wreathed in smoke and shadow. And yet somehow the dragon knew that the new demon's gaze was upon it.

Agony washed over the dragon as the new foe turned its _will _against it. The demonlord's will began to tear at the dragon's very soul, seeking to leech away its power. The dragon rallied its defenses, seeking to repel this vile invader upon the fortress of its mind.

Whatever the demon wanted, it seemed to find. Suddenly, the agony intensified for a brief moment. Then there was a mighty roar of thunder, and both demon lords were gone, leaving no trace of their presence behind but the shattered trail of destruction that the invader had left in its wake. The dragon had failed. The defenders of Relyn had failed.

Their primary foe escaped, the Keepers turned their attention to the dragon, converging upon it from all directions. Alarm filled the dragon, and it took wing, conjuring magic and seeking to use the winds to hold the angels back. For the first time, the dragon truly knew _fear_. A new thought from the _othermind_ presented itself: escape and survive, to continue the battle another day.

It was a highly un-draconic thought, but the dragon's will and its reserve of magical energy had been sorely battered and drained by the fight, and the _othermind_'s strong will forced it to act. The dragon flew towards the town wall, and the forest that lay beyond, hoping to hide, to escape.

The Keepers flew after it, swift and sure as arrows launched from the Goddess's own bow. The dragon would never be able to escape the attention of twenty such angels! It reached the treeline, and in desperation it focused its will again. _**Let my form be hidden from my enemies!**_ It dove in among the trees, and the Keepers lost sight of it quickly.

The dragon flew as fast as it could, swooping left and right, avoiding the wooden giants while trying not to slow down if possible. But exhaustion and despair can dull the reflexes, and the dragon's wing caught against a massive limb, clipping it and changing the dragon's direction. It hurtled forward, unable to stop, and crashed against the bole of a mighty oak, headfirst. It fell to the ground, dazed, tried to rise, and collapsed, unconscious.

For a time, the dragon knew nothing. It did not see the Keepers following after, spreading out and searching the forest after losing its trail. And it did not see the one angel that had never lost sight of it, slowly approaching the fallen draconic form...


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

News of the sacking of Relyn spread quickly outward in all directions. Though the physical destruction had been quite minimal, the psychological damage was devastating. The town had thought themselves safe. Even the ravages of the Dragonwar had left them largely untouched, the myrmidon army passing to the east of them for the most part. But then, to have their home assaulted by a demon and a dragon, and the Keepers, the Church and the Rangers all powerless to protect them, it was a terrible blow to their confidence.

Many of the evacuated citizens returned quickly to their homes, trying to find a way to get back to as close to normal as they could with a great scar ripped into their home town. Some of them, preferring to play it safe, remained in the wilderness for a day, or up to two days for a very few, hunting and foraging for food before the lure of comfort and familiarity drove them back to their normal lives.

But a small minority, discouraged by their losses, abandoned their home altogether. Some of them headed westward, through the forest and into the hill country beyond. Others headed east, towards the coast, or south, towards the plains and the capital. They bore with them the news of the darkness that had enveloped their homes, and the tales slowly spread throughout the kingdom.

The word was spread more quickly through the official communication channels of the Church, with word traveling from Relyn to Tremlen, and from there throughout the world. Unlike the panicked populace, the church had some inkling as to what was happening. Preparations were made, and long-laid plans began to be put into effect.

And one single man out of the refugees from Relyn traveled north. He had watched the battle with horror, as had many, but his fear had been mixed with excitement. _When demons rise, dragons shall oppose them._ Could it truly be that the High Doom was being fulfilled in his day, in his very sight? So he fled north as fast as he could, towards the forbidden mountains of Dragonhome, scaled wings devouring the miles with as much speed as his body could muster.

* * *

There was no real sense of the passage of time, but still the dragon dreamed. It dreamed of peace, and peace shattered. It saw angels, men and demons rise up to battle one with another. It dreamed of the red demon, which devoured bodies, the shadowy horror on spider-legs which devoured souls, and the yellow abomination sealed beneath the unsuspecting residents of Wogras, which devoured _minds_.

It dreamed of a small group of minor demons sneaking stealthily into a dark cavern, picking their way fearfully among the stones, searching for the special rocks upon which to work their mischief and set the whole world aflame.

It dreamed of love and celebration, feasting and plenty turning without warning to mindless panic, fighting, fleeing, and capture. It dreamed of being clasped in irons and restrained by powerful magics, as it was led down a long corridor towards the lair of the hungry one who waited to devour it.

And it dreamed of the ones who watched, one grim and silent upon a throne of stone and gold, who saw all but could take no action, the other wise and kind, lying asleep in a palace of divine steel, who could do much, but saw nothing. It dreamed that as it dreamed of them, the watchers dreamed of it also, and called out to it. _Arise,_ they thought in their mighty dreams, _see, and act. Arise and stand against the coming tide._One of the watchers called the dragon by its true name, a wordless concept embodying a great legacy and the power to set aright that which had been perverted and corrupted.

The other simply called it...

"...Ryan?"

Ryan opened his eyes, then immediately wished he had not. Harsh and sharp, like daggers stabbing into his brain, into his very soul, the sun's rays shone upon him through the forest canopy. He gave a groan of agony and shut his eyes again, willing the cruel light to leave him be.

"Ryan? Is that you?" He felt something cool and soft brush against the scales of his forehead, (_scales?_for some reason, that felt wrong,) and something that was not light, pain or touch intruded upon his sense of self. Something that held meaning, significance.

_Words. Someone is speaking._

A ticklish sensation passed through him that made his blood tingle. _Magic._And suddenly the agony in his injured head eased. Ryan forced himself to open his eyes again. The pain was still there, but not so intensely as before, and the light no longer violated his brain with its mere presence.

He looked up into the lovely, feminine face of a strangely familiar girl. She was kneeling at his side, touching his head lightly, and another wave of healing magic passed through him. On her back were a pair of white wings.

"Nicole?" he asked, as the association solidified in his dazed mind. His voice sounded _wrong_. Too low, and too harsh and raspy.

"Ryan! What happened to you? How did you... end up like this?"

"Like what?" he asked.

The bird-totem mage wove a quick spell, and an image appeared, floating in the air above Ryan. "Like _this!_" she said. He looked up, and saw a myrmidon. The image was _himself_in Totemform. Somehow, the dragon had retreated back to its usual sleep in the far corner of his mind, but it had not returned his human body to him. "...huh?" he asked lamely.

"Ryan?" the pretty girl asked warily, "are you _dragon-totem_?"

* * *

_Author's note: this is a lot shorter than I had intended it to be. But my computer's crashed twice on me now while attempting to write this chapter, and both times I ended up losing everything when I was a lot further along than this. So I figure I may as well publish this much and then pick up from there._


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

There was no time to come up with a convincing lie, if such a thing would even be possible to craft. Confronted with both the question and damning evidence that the answer was already apparent, on the spur of the moment, all he could do was to nod his head wearily.

"I just found out a few days ago." Remembering what Karl had said about him to Katherine, he repeated his Master's earlier words. "I'm no subject of the Kaiser, though."

She gave him a quizzical look, and he found himself needing to explain what that meant to him. "I... I don't really know _what_ I am, other than a foundling, abandoned as a baby during the Dragonwar and raised by the ordinary, decent folk of my village. I worship the Goddess Miriam and I would stand against any threat to the Kingdom or its people, even from the Dragon Clan. On my word of honor, you have nothing to fear from me, Nicole."

She bit her lip. "I'd like to believe that. But a few days ago, I met you and your two companions on the road to Relyn. And now the town's been sacked and I find out the Rangers were escorting a dragon..."

"No, it's not like that!" Ryan protested, alarmed. He groaned and closed his eyes as the emotional stress made his head throb and his vision swim. After a few slow, deep breaths, he continued, forcing himself to stay calm. "I mean, that's not how it happened. If you know the town's been sacked, you'll also know it was a great demon that did it, not a dragon. Karl called it one of the Ancient Lords. You're a mage; does that name mean anything to you?"

Nicole shook her head slowly. "Demon lore was never really my specialty. The only ancient demon lords I've heard of were the Masters of the Birthing Time." It was from the narrative set forth in the _Principio_, that the first priests fought against the demons of chaos who ruled the world. They managed to tame the wild land and make the barren and hostile world blossom, but they were opposed at every step by the Masters, fifteen great demons of immense power. Only when Dolan, the greatest of all, turned against his comrades and aided Miriam's followers did they manage to defeat the Masters and bring peace to the world.

"Yeah, I think that's who he means, the Masters or maybe others that were just as powerful. They weren't killed by the ancient priests; they were sealed away beneath shrines of power, and then as civilization grew, people turned those shrines into churches. Our church caught fire and burned down, and the demon got free. We were coming to Relyn to seek aid from the Prefecure, but while we were there, the demon showed up to free its... I don't know what to call it. Its brother, maybe?"

Nicole listened, then paused in silence when Ryan was finished, considering his words. "There's something you're not telling me," she said slowly, "but... you're telling the truth, aren't you? You didn't attack the town. You tried to help, didn't you?"

Something was not quite right about her words. Ryan thought about it for a moment, then realized the problem. "Yes, and there's something you're not telling me. You shouldn't know that the town's been attacked if you found me on your way _back_, and you certainly shouldn't know that there was a dragon involved in the fighting. But I'm not your enemy, and I don't think that you're mine. It's just that everyone has their own secrets to keep."

For a moment, it looked as if Nicole was going to say something in response to that, but then she apparently thought better of it. Instead, she simply nodded. "I suppose." She remained silent for a moment, then continued. "And... no, I'm not your enemy. I think you're trying to help, and I want to help you."

A corner of Ryan's mind raised an objection that she had been persuaded far too easily, that he should be wary of her. The youth ignored it. He had only told her the truth, that he was a good person caught up in a mess that was not of his own making. Why shouldn't she believe the truth, afterall? Besides, pretty girls had never been interested in him before, because of the social stigma of not having a totem. Now that he had one, and it had drawn the positive attention of such a lovely young lady as Nicole, he would be mad to look for reasons to not trust her!

"All right," the dragon rasped. "You want to help? I'm kind of stuck like this. Not sure why, but I can't get out of Totemform. Also, I hit my head on that tree and it hurts like there's a dr-" he hesitated. He was about to say "like there's a dragon beating on it," a common idiom for severe pain, but he realized how ridiculous that would sound in context. "Like nothing I've ever felt before. You know any magic that can help me with either one?"

She gave a soft giggle as she caught the suppressed idiom. "I might," she said, turning a brilliant smile on him that might have sent his blood racing had he not been distracted by the pounding headache. "Give me a few minutes to prepare, and I'll see what I can do."


End file.
